In a landmark development on Jan 8, some 147 cross-border e-commerce export packages left the Qingpu Comprehensive Bonded Zone – located in East China's Shanghai – and were shipped to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

They were then exported to Malaysia, Japan and other destinations via cargo flights, to be delivered directly to overseas consumers.

A comprehensive bonded zone, or CBZ, is the most advanced level of a special customs supervision zone or SCSZ in China – representing an important platform to boost foreign trade and investment in new frontier industries. As such, it provides the most comprehensive functions of an SCSZ – from traditional functions like export processing and bonded logistics to other business areas like R&D and design, product exhibitions, testing, investigations and after-sales maintenance.

The sending of the 147 packages marked the first time that Shanghai's cross-border e-commerce sector realized the large-scale delivery of  retail export parcels directly from a special customs supervision area – in what is known as a "retail export" model in the industry.

Under this model, goods first enter the comprehensive bonded area through an export declaration.

After entering the area, they are managed as bonded goods. When overseas consumers place an order on an e-commerce platform, the company sorts and packs the goods according to the order and declares the cross-border e-commerce export list to customs.

On obtaining its release, the cross-border e-commerce order can be packaged and shipped out of the country, delivered directly to overseas customers.

In this way, the comprehensive bonded zone and the airport are linked, enabling suppliers to carry out retail exports directly from a customs supervision area.

The "retail export" supervision method offers domestic e-commerce companies benefits and convenience such as compliant export tax rebates, efficient and stable logistics and quality certification of goods.

In the first 11 months of 2023, Shanghai Customs supervised a total of 390 million cross-border e-commerce exports, with a value of 120.8 billion yuan ($16.86 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 216 percent and 104 percent, respectively.

The large-scale operation of the "retail export" model in the Qingpu Comprehensive Bonded Zone is projected to bring major business opportunities to cross-border e-commerce export companies in Shanghai and surrounding cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.